When the Fires Cast Their Shadows
by leslie.borle
Summary: <html><head></head>I just started writing this one. I hope you enjoy it!</html>


Leelucha and Kyle finally had another dangerous adventure behind them. It was time to head into another. Kyle had been bugging her about her home planet, Gallifrey. She secretly cursed herself for not hiding the picture she had painted of the valley below the glass-domed Citadel, nestled cozily between the mountain ranges.

"But why can't I see where you come from?" Kyle whined.

Leelucha took a deep breath and leaned against her TARDIS console, her patience being tested. She was answering this question for what seemed like the hundredth time: "My planet is at war with the universe. With time."

"What do you mean, at war? You told me that your people were peaceful to the point of inactivity," he said. He knew he could break her if he just kept at it... It had already happened once.

"I mean that we were attacked. All of my race. . . . Look, Kyle. My race does not commit. Does not fight. Does not interfere. We do nothing unless the universe is in danger. And the universe is in danger. It's in danger from one of the most vile creatures ever conceived," she said, honestly and frankly.

A beeping noise came from the phone in the TARDIS. As she picked it up, a hologram appeared in the control room and screams could be heard in some gargled language, some amphibian-type creatures running past the transmitter, obviously the ones in danger. The sound of discharging energy weapons could be heard in the background. The hologram cut out shortly after it came, and she put the phone back on the hook.

"Lee? What was that?" Kyle asked, more than a little scared.

"That, Kyle, was the destruction of a planet and their too-late cry for help. And that is why I cannot take you to my home. I fear she will suffer the same fate."

Kyle had never seen Leelucha so somber. She usually grinned and joked, shrugging off the possibility of death and laughing at danger. The TARDIS jerked and groaned, almost throwing the both of them over the railing. Leelucha ran around the console to find out what was wrong, rapidly typing this and flipping that, looking more and more agitated. She looked up, panic and sorrow and anger simultaneously exploding in her eyes.

She took a deep breath.

"Well, Kyle. It seems you'll get to see my planet after all."

At the sound of those words, his heart began to race, his excitement blurring his ability to read Lee's emotions. "Really!?. . . . But what about the war?"

"Well, my dear, unfortunately we were close enough to Gallifrey to be caught by the High Council. Or the War Council. Either way, I have no control. And we're headed straight into a war."

She couldn't believe that the Council, whichever one took her out of the time stream, had the audacity to take the TARDIS when there was a human on board. This was illegal. Purely illegal. But her disbelief soon fell to the wayside when they landed.

The TARDIS materialized in the home that once belonged to Leelucha's family, untouched by time, but still eerily wrong. The loveseat where her and her husband used to read to their son was still sitting there, devoid of all life. The time experiment they were showing him was still unfinished. The chandelier still hung a little too low for her husband and a little too high for her to bother with fixing it. Memories flooded into Leelucha's mind. It took all of her will to stop them from overtaking her. She drowned them all with determination and stepped out into the main room of the home to be greeted by a pair of soldiers.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"Equipping you. Take your guns and report to the regeneration chambers." One of the soldiers responded, shoving a gun into Kyle's hands. The other soldier handed Leelucha her gun, seemingly knowing she would take it with no questions. Turning around, they both turned the dials on their wrist-bound vortex manipulators and disappeared in a flash of light.

Kyle looked at Leelucha and back at the spot the soldiers were just at, comprehension out the window.

"Wait. Wait! WAIT! I DON'T HAVE TWO HEARTS! I ONLY DIE ONCE! COME BACK!"

Leelucha sighed. "Kyle, it's no use. It's like reasoning with air. They won't listen t-"

There was the sound of shattering glass. Leelucha ducked and took an instinctive dive, rolling into an alert position to protect Kyle. She never knew she had that type of reaction, one that was so inclined to violence.

"Go, Kyle. Out of the house. I will guide you from there. But - Kyle, look at me. Look. This is not your war, and it isn't fair of me to ask you to fight, but there is no other way," she said, surprised at the gruffness of her voice.

"Can't we just jump into your magic machine and fly off into the sunset? Why is that not an option?" Kyle said, visibly shaken.

"Because she is locked. The entire planet has been time locked. I'd be endangering you, my TARDIS, and myself, just trying to set the coordinates, and upon dematerialization. . . . Just trust me," Leelucha said. She hoped her eyes spoke more than her words. She couldn't. She couldn't risk it.

A single tear fell down Leelucha's face and the real battle began right there.


End file.
